This week, Pepsi released an ad designed for viral marketing online. It features Nascar driver Jeff Gordon dressing up with a fake beard and moustache, which is ridiculous enough on its own. He then proceeds to supposedly prank a used car salesman by taking a car for a very intense test drive while recording the man’s reactions using a camera hidden in a Pepsi can.
Of course, the entire thing has been staged. Pepsi hasn’t come out and said so, but the used car salesman’s dialogue is cringeworthy. Saying the name Mike over and over to reinforce the notion he doesn’t suspect the driver is Gordon is particularly bad. Also, shots from some sort of dashboard camera can be seen during the video, and the fine print “CLOSED COURSE. PROFESSIONAL DRIVER. DO NOT ATTEMPT.” is a pretty big give away.
Still, it’s a fun ad, and imagining that scenario in real life is even more fun. Except for the shouting and screaming that would no doubt take place.